Donald Birch
|gender = Male |age = 77 |DOB = August 18, 1936 |DOD = 2014 (Original Timeline) 2012 (resurrected by Loki) |clearance = Level 10 |IDno = |title = * (formerly) *World Security Council Secretary |affiliation = * (Formerly) * |movie = *''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' *''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' *''Avengers: Endgame'' |oneshot = |tv series = Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (mentioned) |web series = WHiH Newsfront (mentioned) |game = |comic = *''Captain America: Civil War Prelude'' *''Captain America: Civil War Prelude Infinite Comic'' (mentioned) |actor = Robert Redford |voice actor = |status = Deceased (Original Timeline) Alive (Loki Timeline) }} Donald Birch was one of HYDRA's leaders and its top undercover operative inside the United States Government, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the World Security Council. He commanded the HYDRA forces within S.H.I.E.L.D., working to create a world so chaotic, that its people would give up their own freedom willingly. To that end, he created Project Insight, a project that would have given HYDRA absolute control over the world, inciting the HYDRA Uprising. His plan was stopped by Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, Maria Hill, and Nick Fury during the battle at the Triskelion, in which he was killed by Director Fury and Pierce. Biography (Original Timeline) Early Life State Department . He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility. See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues.|Nick Fury talking about Donald Birch|Captain America: The Winter Soldier}} While working for the State Department, a hostage situation in Bogotá caused Donald Birch to meet with Alexander Goodwin Pierce and Nick Fury, who both successfully saved the hostages, including Birch's daughter. Birch had hoped to win the situation through negotiation, but both Pierce and Fury disagreed. Disobeying direct orders, Pierce and Fury ordered a military operation that rescued the hostages before they were to be killed. Due to the success of the operation, Birch promoted Fury to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Pierce as one of the agency's top deputies. The episode in Bogotá caused a shift in Birch's attitudes toward diplomacy. Joining HYDRA Soon after, he was interested in the ways of HYDRA and was recruited by Arnim Zola. Due to his achievements, Pierce was once nominated for the . However, possibly to occult his true allegiance, Pierce declined the prize, quoting that peace wasn't an achievement but a responsibility. This action gained him Fury's trust. Head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Releasing Werner Reinhardt Sometime during the 1980s, Birch held the rank of Undersecretary of the World Security Council, and ordered the release of Werner Reinhardt who was sentenced to life imprisonment by Peggy Carter in 1945 for his involvement in HYDRA. Reinhardt was released from the Rat and moved by HYDRA's moles in S.H.I.E.L.D. to his old fortress in Austria. With Reinhardt released, Gideon Malick saw the potential of Birch, and considered having him as a partner on his quest to bring Hive back from Maveth, but Malick considered Birch to be too bloodthirsty. Battle of New York In the aftermath of the Battle of New York, Donald Birch traveled to New York with a group of HYDRA operatives posing as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Their job was to claim the Tesseract and Loki Laufeyson, and have them secretly delivered to Wolfgang von Strucker and Doctor Nikolaus Geist in Sokovia. After the Chitauri were all defeated, Birch and his HYDRA operatives entered the Stark Tower to claim the Tesseract and take Loki into their custody. Once they were inside the building, Birch ordered Lance Halstan, Brock Rumlow, and a squad of S.T.R.I.K.E. operatives to retrieve Loki's Scepter to be studied by Doctor Geist. The mission was a success, and Birch focused in retrieving the Tesseract. Upon confronting the Avengers, Birch demanded the team that Loki and the Tesseract were to be relinquished to them, especially the latter as it had been S.H.I.E.L.D.'s property for years. This led to a heated discussion with Thor, who felt necessary to take the Tesseract back to Asgard as Loki, because he had to be punished by Odin Borson due to being an Asgardian war criminal. Birch refused to listen to Thor and demanded Tony Stark to hand Loki and the artifacts to S.H.I.E.L.D., even having a small scuffle with Stark over the Tesseract's briefcase. However, Birch's attempts to secure both ended in naught, as Thor succeeded in retaining custody of the Tesseract and returned it, along with himself and Loki, to Asgard. Contacting Baron Strucker Returning to Washington, Donald Birch returned to his private headquarters where he contacted Baron Strucker to inform of his failure to retrieve the Tesseract and Loki. Baron Strucker was deeply disappointed of the news and Birch was reminded that HYDRA doesn't tolerate with failures. Birch reassured that it won't happen again and that Project Insight will soon be active. Before ending their conversation, Birch was informed by Strucker that he had just sent a well-trained assassin to assist him and gave him all the directions on how to control him. After that, Birch turned to face the assassin, who was known to be the Winter Soldier, and Birch took a great likening of the assassin. Biography (Loki Timeline) Confrontation with the Avengers In an alternate timeline of 2012 in the aftermath of the Battle of New York, Birch arrived at Stark Tower with several HYDRA operatives under the guise of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Like in the original timeline, Birch and his operatives intended to acquire Loki, the Scepter, and the Tesseract from the Avengers. However, Thor and Tony Stark argued with Birch, as Thor noted that Loki was an Asgardian war criminal and must be served justice on Asgard. Birch refused to listen to Thor and demanded Stark to handle Loki and the artifacts to S.H.I.E.L.D., even having a small scuffle with Stark over the Tesseract's briefcase. Suddenly, Stark fell into cardiac arrest, caused by Ant-Man and Tony Stark, who traveled from the future to the past to require the Infinity Stones. As Birch and several of the surrounding agents tended to the dying Stark, requesting medical attention, the future Stark took possession of the Tesseract, only to be knocked aside by Hulk and causing the Tesseract to fall into Loki's hands. The surrounding onlookers, including Birch, were aghast when Loki suddenly vanished, after teleporting away and escaping from S.H.I.E.L.D. confinement. Angered by this, Birch accused the Avengers for letting Loki escape, much to Thor's anger that if he hadn't gotten in the way, Loki would've remained where he was. Victim of the Snap At some point when Loki completed his task in claiming all the Infinity Stones and have them delivered to Thanos Rex, Birch was among those turned to ashes when the Mad Titan accomplished his goal in wiping 50% of life in the universe. It wouldn't long when Loki undone the snap, bringing Birch and everyone who were all victims to the Snap. Personality As a high ranking member of S.H.I.E.L.D., Birch was respected by many of his subordinate officers, including Nick Fury and Alexander Pierce. That respect was gained by decades of service in S.H.I.E.L.D., fighting for and promoting international stability and world wide peace. However, beneath the exterior of a good man, Birch was actually a loyal agent of HYDRA who was able to cleverly hide his true goals in order to gain the trust of others. Always calm and collected during dangerous situations, Birch showed no physical stamina or skill, but he was still one of HYDRA's most valuable operatives because of his extraordinary position within S.H.I.E.L.D., the United States Government, and the World Security Council. Maybe his greatest talent was his ability to present his actions as if they were for the good of the mankind, while he was actually pushing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations in the right direction to serve HYDRA's goals. As a member of HYDRA, Birch was a ruthless master manipulator who showed a complete lack of morality or remorse. To ensure HYDRA's global domination, he rallied S.H.I.E.L.D. into pursuing Captain America so he could trick the World Security Council into activating Project Insight undisturbed. He was no stranger to killing and could murder without batting an eye as he did with his housekeeper and with the World Security Council. Birch no doubt held a great amount of pride for his leadership position within HYDRA as after his true loyalty was exposed by Captain America via loudspeaker to all of S.H.I.E.L.D he made no attempt whatsoever to deny the Captain's revelation and showed very quickly that it was indeed the truth. He appeared to be somewhat abusive towards his minions, slapping the Winter Soldier for failure to kill Captain America, although this was more likely to snap him out of his trance. However, he did have somewhat of a comical edge, asking if Nick Fury would arrange to have Iron Man attend his niece's birthday party, and offering milk when the Winter Soldier appeared in his house. Even in his final moments, Birch pledged his loyalty with his final words being, "Hail HYDRA." Abilities *'Master Spy': Birch used his great abilities as a spy to infiltrate the World Security Council, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the United States Government, all while ensuring that the only people who knew about it were within HYDRA. *'Genius-Level Intelligence': Birch was extremely smart and sophisticated man, who, actually had extensive knowledge about spying and HYDRA. *'Marksman': Birch is a highly skilled marksman, as he shot his house assistant or Black Widow. *'Master Strategist': Birch always knew how to act first step before Captain America and his friends, while using his pawn, Winter Soldier. *'Manipulator': Birch succeeded to hide himself as a HYDRA leader, with assisting and talking to Fury, Pierce, Steve, and the members of the World Security Council. *'Leader': Birch was a highly skilled leader; whether acting as a HYDRA leader or not, he could lead everything in his plan. Equipment *'Miniature Bombs': Donald Birch used these miniature explosives, disguised as security badges, to kill World Security Council members Singh, Yen, and Rockwell, and attempted to use it to kill Black Widow. *'Glock 19': Donald Birch uses this pistol to threaten the members of the World Security Council. *'SIG-Sauer P226': Donald Birch uses this pistol to shoot and kill his housemaid, Renata. Facility *'Triskelion': To be added *'Ideal Federal Savings Bank': To be added Relationships Family *Father *Daughter *Niece Allies *HYDRA **Gideon Malick † **Arnim Zola - Advisor **Aleksander Lukin - Subordinate **Jasper Sitwell - Subordinate **Nathan Garrett - Subordinate **Grant Douglas Ward - Subordinate **Russo - Subordinate **Hauer - Subordinate **Werner Reinhardt **STRIKE - Subordinates ***Brock Rumlow ***Jack Rollins Enemies *S.H.I.E.L.D. (First Incarnation) - Allies turned Enemies **Nick Fury - Killer **Alexander Goodwin Pierce - Killer **Maria Hill **Phil Coulson **Melinda May **Jonathan Garrett *World Security Council - Allies turned Enemies **Hawley **Yen † - Victim **Singh † - Victim **Rockwell † - Victim *Steve Rogers/Captain America - Ally turned Enemy *Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - Ally turned Enemy *Sharon Carter Rogers - Subordinate turned Enemy *Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier † - Subordinate (while under HYDRA control) turned Enemy *Sam Wilson/Falcon *Renata † - Housemaid turned Victim *Georges Batroc Appearances External Links * Category:Americans Category:Deceased Characters - Original Timeline Category:Deceased Characters - Ultron Timeline Category:Humans Category:HYDRA Leaders Category:Level 10 Category:Males Category:Politicians Category:Resurrected Characters - Loki Timeline Category:S.H.I.E.L.D. Leaders Category:United States Government Officials Category:Villains Category:World Security Council Members